Archive for August 22nd, 2008
Cynic’s corner or: why I don’t buy it.
Saw this on Last.fm’s blog:
One of the nicest bits of feedback we’ve had here at Last.fm HQ in the past few weeks was a message from two users who had just started a life together. They wrote to say that it all started through common musical interests on Last.fm, which led to them becoming friends online, and, over time, to discover that they were true soulmates. Yes, honestly.
Honestly? Don’t buy it.
I may be an old cynical, with my romantic nerves rugged and my soul tattered, but I’ve seen this too many times. It just happened that they got a way-too-cool-to-pass PR story that *just* coincides perfectly with the way they’ve “been using the idea of a musical soulmate (…) to guide the development of our new neighbours service”. And they don’t put their names, or faces, on it?
Yes, its quite the thing, I think its a PR thing, since they didn’t make it look like a PR thing. But think, if this was a true story, you’d get down their names, or even their Last.fm usernames, with those funky avatars they have. Its not like they have confessed to liking bestiality, and for a few dollars, this story could’ve made much more sense and go much better than an opening paragraph in a blog.
On the other hand, I’ve seen this before. The just too good to be true story, with no names, no real details, just a ‘believe you me, ’tis be ‘onest tale’ hand around the shoulder confidentiality. I worked in this place, where as incentives to the more efficient employees, used to give raffle tickets to the lottery. When asked, the managers used to tell how “once, this girl actually won 10,000 NIS from one of those”. She didn’t, but the story got carried on, even appeared in a couple of articles on the company. It’s a white lie, no real harm done, win-win situation, so to speak. I just don’t buy it any more.
Update: And not two minutes after posting, I read this item in ValleyWag about what Venture Capitalists really think about the start-ups they invest in.
A Quick One while He’s Gone
The Real Dan Lyons in his blog lays down the word about Microsoft hiring Jerry Sienfeld:
This is Ballmer in full-blown Detroit mode trying to make the latest clunker seem cool by paying Dean Martin to drive one.
How do you encourage Perl programmers to read a dry summary of ways to better use the do or die state of defensive programming? You title it with a Star Trek reference, in this case, “autodie – The art of Klingon Programming“.
If you haven’t done so yet, pick up a free afternoon, and read FreakAngels‘ book one. It’s Warren Ellis’ latest, with excellent art by Paul Duffield. it’s free, and it’s that good. Then go and order the book, so we’ll get more of this.
